


More than Meets the Mind

by Snow_Siren



Series: More Than Meets the Mind [1]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime, X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men Evolution
Genre: BAMF!Raf, Brotherly Bonding, Canon Compliant, Crossover, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, For the most part, Gen, Humor, Light Angst, Mutant Powers, Mutant!Raf, POV Multiple, Team Prime - Freeform, Team as Family, Technology, Technopathy, will be less canon as it progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23135269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow_Siren/pseuds/Snow_Siren
Summary: Ever wonder how Raf can communicate with Bumblebee? Is he just tech savvy, or is it something more? Something inherent to him, something that makes him gifted.
Relationships: Autobots & Rafael "Raf" Esquivel, Bumblebee & Rafael "Raf" Esquivel, Jack Darby & Rafael "Raf" Esquivel & Miko Nakadai
Series: More Than Meets the Mind [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950427
Comments: 47
Kudos: 117





	1. Of Situations and Circuit Boards

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! I've had this idea in my head for a long time. I recently re watched TFP and figured I might as well write it. Things are kinda busy for me right now so idk how often this will be updated. If I see a lot of love for it maybe I'll get to it more often, but idk. This is really a personal project, so please don't expect regular updates. Thank you for giving it a chance.

_Jasper High School_   
_Friday, 2:37 P.M._

Raf wasn’t usually one to watch the clock so eagerly in the middle of Calculus. He actually found the numbers fascinating. Mathematics were the core of everything. From how to safely construct buildings to figuring out how the universe moved, to music structure, to how computers worked, numbers were all encompassing and Raf couldn’t get enough of it. Today however, they didn’t have quite a hold on him.

This weekend Bee had promised to take him racing. Not just with his little RC car either. BumbleBee was offering to find some abandoned back roads, which in Jasper would be a piece of cake, to see just how fast Bee could really be. Best of all, they were staying at the base all weekend. Part of Raf wondered if Vince or Knockout had gotten under Bee’s skin. That part was drowned out by the much larger, and much louder, part of him that just wanted to get away and have fun with his new friend.

He could barely make out the teacher’s voice droning on about the chapter anymore. The only numbers he could think about now were the clock and what would show up on Bee’s speedometer. The minute hand on the face of the standard clock, the kind that could be found in any public school, ticked by so painfully slowly, so close to the “9” that would signal 2:45pm and the end of the day.

After several more harrowing ticks of the clock hand, the glorious bell finally tolled. Raf was out of his seat and through the door before the kid next to him had fully woken up from their boredom nap. Dashing to his locker, he quickly dealt with his school things, replacing what he needed and didn’t need for tonight’s homework. In a flurry of papers, books, and miscellaneous supplies, he sorted everything and slammed his locker closed.

Only to be met with Vince.

“Where you think you’re heading, nerd?” Vince had one hand on the lockers, leering too close to Raf’s face. Raf glanced around, trying to see if Miko or Jack were anywhere in sight. Those two had no problem putting Vince in his place. Once, when Vince had tried to threaten him into doing his final project for science for him, both of those two had come to his rescue. The combination of Jack’s intimidating stare from having seen and experienced interplanetary combat and Miko’s unpredictable nature made for an effective team. Raf on the other hand always froze at the sight of the bully. “Looking for your loser friends? Don’t worry, they’re outside, we’ll have all the privacy we need.”

Raf backed up, the slightest inch, causing Vince to grab the collar of his shirt. “I don’t think so.” The hallways had gone silent with no one else around. Raf’s heart soared for a moment when he saw a student walking towards them, before promptly taking a nosedive when he recognized him as one of Vince’s friends.

“They ain’t coming this way anytime soon Vince, the pink-haired chick is going on about something. They’ve got themselves distracted.” The guy sauntered over to the scene. He hardly looked high school aged, already sporting a beer belly and a full beard.

“Good.” Vince sneered at Raf before shoving him into the goon. “Follow me.” A calloused hand on his shoulder insured Raf complied. Right now the teachers were all probably focused on the flood of students exciting the school, making sure there was no funny business. They would come back in once everything died down a bit, but how long that would be Raf couldn’t tell.

They didn’t have to wander far down the hall. Vince peered into a random room that had its lights off. “This’ll do.” He jimmied the door open and slipped inside, Raf and the goon right behind, if less gracefully. Computers lined the walls and were set up in rows throughout the room. At the front was a whiteboard and projector. Vince kept the lights off but Raf doubted he’d be using the machine. It was one of the computer labs open to any class that scheduled time for it, but was often empty. If they left him here there’d be no telling how long it would be until he was found.

Raf swallowed, gathering his courage. He faced ‘Cons before, Vince shouldn’t be this scary. “What do you want, Vince?” He puffed out his chest and narrowed his eyes. As soon as Vince turned to look at him, he regretted it.

Vince stalked closer to him, pointing a finger right in his face, “What I want, loser, is to know how you suped up that car.”

“What?” His question earned him a harsh poke to the chest.

“That Camaro I see you leave in every day. The one Darby tried to race against me.” He straightened back up. “I don’t remember much from that night, but I remember it being way faster than it had any right to be. So, what did you do to it?”

Raf couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Vince. I’ve never even worked on a car before.”

“Bullshit!” Vince emphasized his point by slamming his fist on one of the computer tables. “I know Darby doesn’t know jack about cars, but you, you’re mister boy genius. And it's your car, so not only are you gonna tell me what you did, you’re gonna do it to my ride too.”

“Vince, really I didn’t do anything.” Raf hated the way his voice cracked.

Vince smirked, “It's illegal isn’t it.” He let out a barking, rough laugh. “Wow kid, wouldn’t have taken you for a felon.” joining in on the laughter, the goon’s grip got tighter on Raf’s shoulder. Raf felt like his heart was about to beat straight out of his chest. It hammered his ribs harder when Vince abruptly stopped laughing, the goon a half second behind. Vince leaned down nose to nose with him and growled, “You’re gonna tell me, or you’re gonna regret it.”

Raf’s breathing hitched. He had nothing to tell him. Cars, beyond Bee and the other members of team Prime, were only a casual interest. “I, I uh, I installed a nitrous tank.”

“I’ve never seen nitrous do that, try again.”

The goon now had a hand on each shoulder. He couldn’t run. He couldn’t fight. He didn’t stand a chance. “It’s a-a-a…” Raf tried to think of the different upgrades from his racing game only to draw a black. “A-a-a”

“Spit it out, nerd.” spittle from Vince’s mouth splattered on Raf’s cheek. His breath hitched and he winced. “Fine, don’t tell me.” Vince snapped his fingers. “Hold him, Gus” The calloused hands moved from his shoulders, down onto his forearms, Gus’ rough nails digging into his flesh through the shirt.

“Vince, really I don’t know anything, I don’t work on cars.” Raf closed his eyes as Vince reared his fists back. He wished he was brash like Miko when she took an ax to soundwave or brave like Jack who stared down Megatron. Instead he was terrified of a regular school bully. As his heart beat furiously in his chest and pounded in his ears, he realized he was too scared to even scream.

So it couldn’t be him that let loose that shrill squeak.

Raf’s eyes snapped open. Computers were sparking and catching fire. A stray spark landed on Vince's sleeve, the cuff now engulfed in flame. As Vince flailed he yelled, “Don’t just stand there dumbass, help me!” Gus released Raf, to help try to pat the flames out. More computers all around them started fizzing and sparking, but Raf had a clear path to the door.

Knowing it might be his only shot, he dashed for the door, throwing it open and bolting down the hall. He only got a little ways when he heard Vince and Gus’ pounding footsteps behind him. As long as Raf could get outside and into public view, he’d be okay. The front door was only a little further away.

The older boys’ were getting closer and closer, but Raf summoned whatever little strength he had. Urging himself to go just a little faster, he flung open the door, spotted Bee and leapt inside. Vince and Gus stood right outside the school, glaring daggers in his direction. At least he had the whole weekend to figure out how to deal with them.

“ _What was that about?_ ” Bee asked, pulling away from the school. Raf noticed Miko and Jack had already left.

“Vince thought I had super charged you.” Raf said between pants. After Bee’s confused and questioning beeps, Raf explained the entire encounter.

Bee let him tell the story without interruption. Even without being able to see his faceplate though, Raf knew by the slow takeoffs and dim internal lighting the bot was blaming himself for the entire ordeal. “Bee, it's not your fault. Vince is just a jerk.”

“ _I know, I just hate the idea of you getting hurt._ ” The seatbelt squeezed Raf a little tighter, the closest they would ever get to a real hug. “ _You’re really lucky those computers went haywire when they did.”_

“Yeah.” Raf said, distracted. “Bee? Can we not tell the others about this?” Raf asked, eyes directed at his feet.

“ _Why? Wouldn’t it be better if Jack or Miko could help protect you? You said before they knew how to handle Vince._ ” There was an alarmed tone to the beeps.

“They shouldn’t have to handle my problems for me, though, Bee.” Raf looked out the window at the endless desert. “I should be able to handle myself.”

Bee was silent for a moment before responding, “ _I understand._ ”

A rare moment of awkward silence gripped the two. Miles passed before Bee broke the spell, “ _You still wanna go racing tomorrow though, right?”_ Raf broke into an eager grin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
 _X-Manor_  
 _Friday 9: 23 P.M._

Charles Xaiver unhooked himself from Cerebro and rolled into his office, deep in thought. ‘ _Logan, Storm, Hank, meet me in my office._ ’ He sent out telepathically. He felt acknowledgments of agreement from each of them, if slightly irritated in Logan’s case. It didn’t take long for all of them to filter in.

“What’s the situation, now?” Logan grumbled. Hank and Storm, while not as harsh in their curiosity, also seemed perplexed. Hank took a seat near Xavier, hands folded into a steeple, his chin resting on them. Ororo followed suit, legs crossed and head tilted ever so slightly. Logan was the only one to choose to remain standing.

“I’ve just picked up on mutant activity in Jasper, Nevada.” Xavier said.

“So, we send someone out to recruit the kid.”

“I’m afraid I don’t think it will be that simple, Logan.”

“Why is that, Professor?” Ororo asked, leaning forward slightly.

“There have been many strange reports from this area and obvious cover ups as well,” Charles directed their attention to a screen open to a conspiracy site. The headline spoke of a driverless car, but the picture was that of a dancing monkey. Xavier continued “,but never before has it been from any mutant activity I could detect.” Xavier folded his hands, deep in thought. “As to what the activity is specifically, I cannot be sure. Various sources have theories, but none are consistent.”

“Do you think they have a telepathy blocker?” Hank asked, now just as curious as Xavier.

“If they did it wouldn’t make sense to remove it now.”

“Maybe they just got sloppy.” Logan grunted, wishing he could light a cigar.

“If it is a telepathy blocker, that begs the question, what are they hiding?” Storm said.

“I’m not so sure it is. The mutant in question is quite young. While he would be more than capable of creating such a device I don’t believe he’d have any reason to. He seems very unaware of what’s happening to him.”

“The boy is probably terrified.” Hank mumbled, wiping a hand down his brow.

“Not like you to go prodding so deep on a newbie, Professor.” Logan’s eyes narrowed.

“I only did a surface examination of his thoughts, nothing more. The circumstances are quite odd, Logan.” He grunted, accepting the response. “I’d like to go meet this young man. A technopath by the looks of it, see exactly what the situation is. Given the possible variables however, I’d like you two, Storm, Logan, to accompany me. Hank, I trust you can look after the school while we’re away?”

“Of course, Charles.” Hank nodded.

“When do we leave?” Logan asked.

“First thing in the morning. Be ready for anything.”


	2. Dude, I almost had you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally Its here!!
> 
> Quick note for those that said they were unfamiliar with x-men. Storm and Ororo are the same person, the names are interchangeable.   
> I very much hope this was worth the wait! Thank you everyone that commented or left kudos. I never thought this would be that well received ^__^

Charles Xavier POV

The X-Jet flew through the clouds silently. It was quite the flight from Westchester to Jasper, but Charles didn’t mind. With Storm at the controls there was nothing to worry about, except maybe Logan going stir crazy. Even with the currently clear skies the large man had his eyes closed and fists clenched. Charles fought down an amused smile. 

“I’ll be landing soon.” Storm said. Logan sighed in relief. 

“Stay away from the highway, and land in the desert. We shouldn't cause any suspicion there.” 

Ororo landed the Jet expertly. There wasn’t anything around except what looked to be a missile silo far off in the distance. Town was in the opposite direction and nowhere in sight. Besides that just baren sand made up the landscape. They lowered the ramp and left the Jet in the desert, beginning the slow trek to the road. If anyone had the ability to steal the X-Jet they probably deserved to have it. 

“Won’t the people bringing the rental car be a bit suspicious of 3 people by the highway with no car?” Logan drew a cigar out of his pocket, not lighting it, but chewing on it.

“To their knowledge we will have a car, albeit a fairly damaged one.” Logan grunted in response. 

“How will we find the boy?” Storm asked. 

“Once we head into town it shouldn’t be hard for me to locate him. Should all else fail, I was able to determine his address.” By now the road was in sight. 

  
  


Raf POV

Wiping the sleep from his eyes Raf slowly came back into consciousness. He eased out of his sleeping bag and searched haphazardly with his hand for his glasses. In the process he nearly smacked a snoring Miko. finally his fingers made contact with the frames and he slid them on. 

The main area was empty aside from him, Jack and Miko. Only he was awake. Tiptoeing his way around his friends he grabbed his bag and slipped away to the bathroom. A quick run of a brush through his hair and brushing of his teeth he came back out. Neither had stirred.

Checking the time on his phone he saw it was 5:23 am. Too early for even Optimus or Ratchet to be up apparently. Raf thought he should go back to sleep, but he felt too wired. After the events of yesterday and with his plans today falling asleep had been hard enough the first time. 

Considering shut eye was out of the question, Raf set up their video games system. It was an older model Jack had found at a garage sale for them, but it still worked just fine. Despite the games being a few generations old, they still all loved them. 

Or maybe they loved the irony of playing a racing game against beings that could be litteral race cars. 

Regardless, it was the best way Raf could think of to kill a little time. The games booted up and he leapt for the remote. The volume had been insanely loud, spooking him. Turning it down, he looked over at his friends to find them still passed out. 

Breathing a sigh of relief, he continued. Just for kicks he started off on the easy levels, blowing away the AI racers with ease. Slowly he worked his ways through the levels, the difficulty picking up as he went. Still, he held his own weaving between the cars. 

He made it all the way to the level they were all stuck at. Even Bee hadn’t won this race yet, and until it was won the rest of the game was locked. Raf took stock of his surroundings. Everyone was still fast asleep. They would start waking up soon though.  _ How cool would it be if when they woke up I had won the race?  _ Raf thought to himself, a rare streak of giddy pride rushed through him at the idea. It would only be a small thing, yes, but it would be a thing HE did. 

Eagerly, he pressed the start button. 

The first time went badly, but he expected it. He hadn’t tried this track in a while, he was rusty. The second wasn’t much better, nor the third. By the fourth try he realized where he was going wrong. He kept taking the turns too harshly. Switching to a car with better handling he tried again. Progress, if minimal. 

Slowly he started placing better, moving up the ranks. Every so often there’d be a fluke, but overall he was progressing. On his 25th try he came in second. 

He started the race again. Right away he had a good start, weaving between cars from the git go. The first turn was the worst one and he drifted right through it into 3rd place. On the edge of his seat Raf used the straight away to trigger a booster sending him into 2nd. The next turn let him slide into 1st. There was no time to celebrate as he needed to maintain the position. The AI car would bump into him from behind and from the sides, but he didn’t yield. Around every turn he kept it at bay. 

The finish line came into sight. He pulled out ahead of the AI car on the last straightaway. The win was his. As he was about to cross the finish line the AI car triggered its booster. Raf couldn’t tell who crossed first. 

The little animation signalling the end of the race ran. By one one hundreths of a second the AI car had won. 

Raf smacked the couch in frustration, groaning in annoyance. He had had it! He was there! How could he forget about the AI booster? 

He took his frustration out on the couch again. When his fist made contact with the fabric the console began smoking, popping, and crackling. 

Raf scrambled away as it burst into flames. His scream as well as the inferno woke Jack and Miko. 

Jack leapt out of his sleeping bag and grabbed the fire extinguisher. He had the fire out before Miko was even aware of what was happening. 

“Wh-what’s going on? Cons?” Miko took off her sleeping mask, her hair made even more wild than normal. 

“Just a fire. What happened, Raf?” Jack slumped on the couch next to him, wide awake but already exhausted. 

“I was playing, and it just blew up!” Raf ran a hand through his hair. 

“No! Not the game system!” Miko threw her hands in the air.

“Well it sucks but we knew it was old when we bought it.” Jack pulled himself off the couch to inspect it. “It probably was on its last leg.” 

“I don’t know…” Raf trailed off, thoughts of yesterday plagueing his mind. He didn’t want to bother either of them with it, they both knew how Vince treated him already, but it was suspicious. 

“What do you mean?” Jack looked at him, eyebrows knitted together in worry.

Raf gnawed his bottom lip, “Its stupid, you’d think I’m crazy.”

“Dude,” Miko piped up from her sleeping bag, “We’re friends with giant, alien, robot cars. Nothing is crazy anymore.” 

Raf rubbed the back of his neck. She had a point. “Well, yesterday, Vince kinda attacked me and-”

“Vince what?” Jack and Miko shouted in unison. 

“It wasn’t a big deal, I’m fine. Anyway, He had me cornered in a computer room and he was about to punch me-”

Jack and Miko interrupted again, both in their own shock and worry.

“That’s not the point guys. So he was about to punch me, but before he could the computers all started sparking and exploding.” Raf sighed, not realizing how tense he was, “It let me get away. Just now I was frustrated with the game and it blew up. Don’t you think that’s a bit strange?”

“Raf, seriously, if Vince tries that again you gotta tell us.” Jack scooted closer to him on the couch. 

“Yeah, we’ll show him why he doesn’t get to mess with one of us.” Miko made a fist, punching her other hand. 

“I told Bee I just didn’t want to worry you guys, but that’s not the point right now. Don’t you think it's strange that when I’m under duress electronics go haywire?” Raf wrung his hands out over and over, trying to wash away the nagging feeling he had that this was something big.

“I mean yeah it's weird, but how would that even be possible?” Jack leaned back into the couch, arms crossed. 

“Maybe he’s been exposed to energon too long and now he’s mutated and developed super powers!” Miko leapt out of her sleeping bag punching the air. “Jack what superpowers do you think we’ll get?” Her big eyes gleamed with excitement.

“We haven’t been exposed to energon. None of us have. It's toxic.” Jack sighed. “Yeah, I’ll admit it's weird, but it's just coincidence. Now come on, let's get something to eat. The autobots will be up soon.”

Jack walked towards the bathroom with his stuff. Miko got out of her sleeping bag and plopped next to Raf. “I still think it's superpowers.” She ruffled his hair. 

Something told him she may not be far off. 

  
  


Charles POV

The small town of Jasper was completely unremarkable in appearance. The city streets barely had enough stoplights to be considered a town. The residence all seemed like normal, everyday people without an ounce of knowledge of what really went on in the world. Charles couldn’t help but find that somewhat charming. 

What was frustrating was being unable to detect a single mutant brainwave. Raphael was supposed to be a young boy, a demographic rather easy to track normally. He wouldn’t be traveling or driving anywhere on his own. While Charles’ range was lesser without Cerebro, not being able to detect him at all was...odd. 

“Which way am I turning?” Logan was behind the wheel, much more at ease now that he was on the ground. 

“Go straight here. It seems we’ll be going directly to Rapheal’s home.” Charles looked out the window, the beginnings of concern etching itself on his face. 

“You don’t sense him yet?’ Ororo asked from the back seat. 

“No, I find it odd as well.” Typing the address into the GPS they navigated the sleepy desert streets in tense silence. The air was that of the calm before a storm. Nothing could be done about it except to wait to see what happened next. 

It didn’t take them long to find the house. It was decently sized, but average. A single car was in the driveway. Charles sensed many different minds in the household. One adult female and many children. “He isn’t here.” 

Logan went to start the car again, but Charles stopped him. “Let’s see what we can learn, Logan.” 

The three of them approached the front door, Storm being the one to knock, while Logan stayed behind the professor pretending to be the one pushing the wheelchair. Chaos could be heard within the household, so it was no surprise it took several minutes for the door to open. 

A Hispanic woman with deep black hair answered, “Hello?” She had a laundry basket resting on her hip and a worn expression.

“Mrs. Esquivel, very nice to meet you. My name is Charles Xavier. My associates here, Logan and Ororo,and I are here to offer your son, Raphael, a place at my school. We specialize in gifted youngsters like young Raphael and think he’d be a wonderful fit. May we come in?”

She shook her head and put a polite smile on her face. “Raf is very bright, yes. I don’t worry about him. I’m sure your school is very fine, he’s gotten offers from a lot of fine schools, leave your brochure and we’ll talk about it when he gets home.” A crash sounded from inside the house and she sighed deeply. “Have a good day.” She went to close the door. 

“Wait, where is young Raphael?” She paused, looking at them with narrowed eyes mostly directed at Logan. 

“With a friend. He’ll be back monday. Have a good day.” While Charles didn’t make a habit of reading others minds, it did prove useful in times like this. The prompt of the question brought the information to the forefront of her mind, allowing him to only need a cursory glance at her thoughts to find out the location before she shut the door. 

Walking back to the car Logan asked, “Where to?”

“Just down the road. He’s with a friend named Jackson.” 

“He’s elusive, this one. What did you say you think he is, Professor?” Storm opened the door for him, so far unphased by the goose chase. 

“A technopath.” 

Logan grunted, “Kid is probably off in some secret lab in the desert then.” Most would’ve thought the snort he gave was one of derision, but those that knew him knew it was the closest to laughing he ever got. Charles and storm joined him with polite chuckles of their own. 

The drive to the Darby residence was an even shorter one than first finding the Esquivel house. It was another sleepy home on a sleepy street. The only difference was the lack of people. Logan was about to turn around when a car pulled up next to them in the driveway. A woman with long black hair and large eyes got out of the car. While she walked to the door she never let her gaze leave them. 

“Let’s see what Ms. Darby has to say.” They exited the car and approached before she opened the door. 

“What can I help you three with?” She cocked her hip, arms crossed. 

“Hello ma’am. I’m Charles Xavier. My associates here and I are looking for a Raphael Esquiviel. We were told he’s here?” 

Again Logan had eyes narrowed at him. Charles caught Ororo holding back a smirk out of the corner of his eye. No doubt Logan was resisting rolling his. “I don’t know where you heard that. Him and my son are at Raf’s place.” A quick look into her thoughts revealed a torrent of worry that no one would ever know based on her cool expression. She genuinely thought that was where both boys were. 

“I see. Thank you for your time.” 

Ms. Darby nodded and closed the door, but it didn’t take a telepath to know she was just waiting for them to leave before running to the Esquivel house. 

They got back into the car and Logan groaned. “Kid really is up to something.”

“I have to agree with Logan. Something is odd.”

“We knew that going in, but I will admit, I didn’t see it being this difficult.”

  
  


Raf POV

Raf slammed into Bee’s door as he drifted into another turn. He whooped and hollered at the sheer speed of it all before feeling the g-force push him back into the seat.Bee was on the next makeshift straight away on the forgotten stretch of desert. No one ever came out here, so they ran, or more accurately drove, wild. 

They were just about to hit another turn when Raf’s phone rang. The caller ID read “Jack” so Bee slowed down for him to answer it. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Raf you gotta get back here now! My mom just called and she’s heading to your place because she thinks I’m there.” Raf’s face paled. “If she finds out I’m not there we’re screwed!” 

“Uh, right.” 

“Have Bumblebee send me your coordinates, I’ll send a bridge for you.” Ratchet said. Jack must have had his phone on speaker. 

The familiar blue circle of light appeared in front of them and Bee drove through. He slammed his brakes just in time to avoid hitting Jack and Miko. She was clearly barely containing laughter at the whole situation while Jack looked like a fugitive on the run. Raf jumped out of Bumblebee and together he and Jack sprinted through the new bridge. 

Raf barely registered Ratchet grumbling to himself, “A thank you would’ve been nice.” 

The boys landed in the middle of Raf’s backyard, the bridge closing behind them. They made it just in time to hear a car pulling up. Jack sighed, they were in the clear now. 

Raf led him inside through the back door. Inside the house was the usual Saturday chaos. Toys and laundry were strewn across the living room and bowls from breakfast still sat out on random tables. His father was at work and managing so many kids was an impossible task for one woman. Raf suspected that’s why his normally very protective mother allowed him out of the house whenever he wanted. 

A knock at the door sent his mother running in from the garage. “How many random people are gonna stop by today.” She grumbled as she walked right past him and Jack. Jack arched an eyebrow at Raf, confused and concerned. 

“She...gets busy.” It was the truth, but it still hurt. 

“Yes? Oh, Ms. Darby, what are you doing here is Raf alright?” His mother’s normally stern expression slipped into alarm. 

“Actually, that’s why I’m here-”

Raf ran to his mother’s side, “Hey mom, are we uh, are we out of milk?” He smiled innocently. “Oh, Hello Ms. Darby.” Jack walked up behind him, also feigning innocence. 

“Oh!” His mother shook her head, clearly not quite believing he was there. “I thought you were…”

“Mom, I told you. I needed Jack to come over here if I was going to help him with his science project. I have all my materials here.”

“Hi mom.” Jack finally said. “Is everything okay? You said you wanted to check up on me.”

June looked suspicious, but didn’t remark on it. “People came by the house looking for Raf. They said they heard he was at our place.” June raised an eyebrow, not needing words to ask Jack if he knew anything about that. 

“Ah Si, they came by here too, But, I didn’t tell them where you were. I don’t think.” She shook her head again. “I need an aspirin.I’m not thinking right today.”

“People were looking for me?” Raf squeaked. 

“Another school wanting you to attend. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about you getting into a good college, everyone already wants to take my baby from me.” She reached down and pinched Raf’s cheek. He felt the blood rush to his face in embarrassment. 

“Well, since it checks out I guess I have nothing to worry about. Sorry to bother you Mrs. Esquivel.” June turned to her son. “Call me before bed tonight, okay?”

“Yes, mom.” Jack rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Thank you. I’ll see you later than. Goodbye Raf, Mrs. Esquivel.” A quick goodbye later and the door was closed. The boys went back out into the yard to catch a bridge back to base. 

Raf gnawed on his lip. First strange things happening around him and now people were looking for him? 

What was going on?

Charles POV

They were driving back to the jet when the professor grew wide eyed. “Logan pull over.” Slamming the brakes and no doubt angering the driver behind them he did so. 

“What’s wrong?” Storm put a hand on his shoulder from the back seat. 

Charles shook his head. I just sensed a mutant, back towards the Esquivel residence, but…” Charles blinked and concentrated best he could. “It's gone now. But it was definitely our technopath.”

Logan grunted, “Are you sure he’s a technopth? Maybe you got it wrong and he’s a teleporter.” 

“Professor, you’ve never been wrong before about this, have you?” Ororo’s eyebrows drew together. 

“I’m not infallible, but no. Normally, I can tell their mutation by their thoughts or surroundings. This, this is odd.”

“I thought you didn’t go poking around randomly in people’s heads?”

“I don’t Logan. The surface thoughts and emotions are usually enough. Those and the brainwave patterns.”

“Could he have built one? A teleportation device?” Storm found that to be the least worrying option. 

“Perhaps so, though where he would get the materials at such a young age I have no idea.” He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “I suppose we’ll just have to wait for him after school on Monday.” 

“Great, two more days in this town. Can’t wait.” Logan pulled onto the road again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this outlined up to chapter 5.   
> At that point this arc of the story is done.   
> I plan to keep going and basically rewrite the series but weaved together. My question to you all is this: Should that part be a sequel story or should this one just be very, very long? I'd appreciate input as I genuinely am unsure which way to go. Thank you all so much for reading! Its the only thing keeping my writing self-esteem up right now :)


	3. Friend or Foe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally the two groups meet, but how will Raf react to the news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the chapter just keep getting longer, sorry about that. Hopefully its not too ridiculous.  
> More so though, I hope it was worth the wait :)

Raf POV

They jogged back into Base, the bridge closing behind them. “Frivolous use of bridge technology.” Raf didn’t need to see Ratchet’s faceplate to know he was rolling his optics. The old mech just returned to his work without another word. 

“So,” Miko skipped up to them, “Now that you’re not grounded we can go back to having a super awesome weekend!” A wild air guitar performance was her way of celebrating. 

“ _Y_ _ou didn’t get in trouble did you?_ ” Bee chirped walking over to Raf and giving him a boost to his shoulder. 

“No, thankfully. We made it in time and convinced them both they remembered wrong.” Raf rubbed the back of his neck. He hated lying to his mother, but what else could he do? She’d never understand. She’d just worry. 

“Good.” Arcee said. “The last thing I want is to be stuck in that garage.” A shudder went through her body. 

Jack let loose a humorless laugh while walking up besides her. Running up to Bulkhead Miko touched his servo, “Come on Bulk, now that everything's okay lets go Dune surfing!” Bulkhead chuckled at her and transformed. 

“Wait!” Raf called down to him. Everyone had their eyes and optics on him now, including Optimus who had just walked in from the back of the base. The Prime looked at him quizzically. While he knew they would listen, he still felt silly saying anything. He was probably just being paranoid, but he couldn’t shake the feeling something was going on. 

Miko stood with Bulkhead’s door partially open. “If you wanna come then let’s go! Bulkhead doesn’t mind having someone in the passenger seat.” The mech chuckled at his charge’s eagerness. 

“Its not that. It's just…” Raf looked away, cheeks turning red. “There were people looking for me.” 

“What?” Bee’s Optics widened as he looked at Raf in shock.

“What kind of people?” Ratchet looked up from his work, arms crossed. The others watched him expectantly. 

Except for Jack. “I thought you said that kind of thing was normal?” He cocked an eyebrow at him. 

“Okay, yeah, I’ve gotten offers for fancy schools before, but, this happening right after all the other weird stuff going on...I don’t know isn’t that a bit suspicious?” Raf was practically pleading with them to believe him. While logic and numbers and reliable facts were normally how he liked to face a problem, his gut told him something was up. He knew something was up. He just needed them to believe him. 

“ _You think this has to do with what happened with Vince?_ ” Bee asked. Raf sighed, at least one of them believed him. 

“Isn’t that the name of that school bully you tried to race against?” Ratchet received several stares from all but Optimus. “What? I overhear things?”

“Vince has nothing to do with it, Ratchett.” Jack spoke up. “Raf is just a little jumpy right now.” 

“He’s gotten super powers from being exposed to energon too long!” Miko excitedly punched the air. Bulkhead, figuring that they wouldn’t be leaving for a while, transformed back.

“Energon is _toxic_ to humans! It doesn’t grant them special abilities.” Ratchet shook his head in sheer disbelief at Miko’s unbridled imagination. 

Miko couldn’t help but respond and bickering ensued. Optimus observed the whole thing passively. When there was a break in the chaos he spoke, “Raphael, would you explain what Miko means by ‘super powers’.” 

Raf took the opportunity and ran with it. He detailed every strange occurrence as best he could, trying desperately to show the Prime how important this was. At the end of his story The Prime looked at him, eye to optic. Raf couldn’t read his expression. 

“While these are strange events in that they happened in such close proximity to each other, I do not think you’re in danger.” Raf’s heart fell. “However, If BumbleBee is so inclined I think he should stay stationed with you as often as possible over the next few days. 

“ _Of course, Optimus._ ” Bee nodded, standing even straighter. “ _I wasn’t planning on leaving your side any time soon anyway._ ” Raf offered Bee a small smile. It was something, but it wouldn’t stop the storm he knew was coming. 

With that settled things went back to normal for the rest of the weekend. Well, aside from a new femme Decepticon that tried to kill Jack to torment Arcee*. That was almost normal for them at this point though, being nearly killed by Cons. Still Raf had a feeling he wouldn’t be the only one proverbially tied to their guardian’s hip for a while. 

Just as deadly Cons were inevitable, so was Monday. His immediate troubles switched from odd technology trouble and snooping strangers to Vince. Raf was lucky enough to have all but first period with either Jack or Miko if not both of them. They were the only thing keeping him at bay between classes. Neither of them mentioned it, but both stuck by him closer than normal, for which Raf was grateful. 

As his luck would have it though, Miko had a dentist appointment. Some agreement between her host parents and biological ones made it to where she was unable to miss it. This left him alone during seventh period. 

Just like Friday he found himself hardly paying attention to the lesson. This time though it wasn’t out of excitement, but fear. He had already grabbed everything he would need from his locker. This made his backpack horribly heavy, but it would save him precious time to get outside. Vince had a class much closer to the outside door, so it would be a sprint to ensure witnesses and therefore avoid a fight. 

Raf watched the clock so closely he was already halfway out of his seat when the bell rang. A run would get the teachers and administrators after him. An extremely fast walk would have to do. Weaving through the corridors Raf dodged other students left and right. He caught a glimpse of Vince walking towards Raf’s locker as he passed. 

The bully spotted him too. 

The door was already in sight. Raf broke into a run, rules be damned. Bursting through the door he was just in time to see Jack take off with Arcee. He probably had an early shift at KO Burger. It didn’t matter though, Bee was right there. Taking the steps two at a time, he was almost to freedom. 

A yank at the back of his collar snapped him into a different reality. Vince’s crony from last time was standing behind him, keeping a firm hold on his shirt. “You’re not going anywhere short stack.” He chuckled, his belly jiggling. While other students still milled about, the initial crowd was long gone. 

Bee was right in front of him. He revved his engine a few times, but they were in public. His guardian couldn’t do anything. Raf was alone. 

There were just a few people left in the court yard now. They milled about casually, waiting on their rides. The bully had a tight grip on his shirt, but to any observer it would just look like a friendly hand on his shoulder. The seconds ticked by into minutes, and eventually Vince walked out. 

Raf knew the power play was intentional. That didn’t mean he wasn’t proverbially shaking in his boots. “Let go Theo. He isn’t gonna try to run away now. Are you?” Vince knelt down and stared at him, their noses inches apart. Raf refused to answer, just stared back as passively as he could. Vince scoffed, “Come on,” and grabbed a tuft of Raf’s hair to Drag him down the steps. 

If anyone noticed, they didn’t say anything. Vince bullied without discrimination after all. Bee revved his engine again, but no one paid him any mind either. 

Vince continued to drag him around to the side of the stairs, out of sight of the few passive onlookers. A grunt slipped past his lips when Vince shoved him into the wall. Theo stood right behind Vince, ready to catch him should he run. He just hopped he wasn’t trembling as badly as he felt like he was. 

“You’re pretty slippery there, twerp. Having Darby and the crazy chick shadow you all day, but when it comes down to it, they aren’t here.” Vince smirked. “So, I’m only going to ask nicely one more time. What did you mod on that car?” He pointed to Bee as he sneered at Raf. 

Raf took several deep breaths. Vince was convinced he was responsible for illegal mods on Bee. He wouldn’t hear anything else. Bee couldn’t help him without putting everyone in jeopardy. He couldn’t run without making everything much worse. There was no lie good enough that came to mind, not that his poker face was very good to begin with. 

He was going to get beat no matter what. 

He might as well get one jab in. 

Briefly, he wondered what Miko would do. The answer immediately came to mind. “I’d explain it, but the big words would only give you a headache.” 

Vince reared back his fist. “You little, fucking-” Raf brought his hands up to his face to deflect a blow that never came. 

“Is there a problem here gentlemen?” Raf looked through his fingers to see a bald man in a wheelchair accompanied by a tall, black woman with stark white hair and a short, grumpy looking, white male with impressive mutton chops. 

“Um…” Vince still had his fist reared back, but now his eyes had gone wide. He looked at Theo who was equally dumbstruck. Raf couldn’t say he fared any better aside from the accompanied relief. 

“I think you ought to leave this young man alone and go home to study.” The bald stranger quirked an eyebrow. Raf almost laughed at the idea that Vince would ever study OR leave him alone. His jaw nearly dropped when Vince lowered his fist and nodded. 

“Yeah, yeah that’s a good idea. Come on, Theo.” Vince grabbed Theo’s arm as he nodded. 

“Woah…” Raf watched his Bullies walk away, stunned. “How did you do that?” 

The bald man smiled at him warmly, “You’ve been very tricky to track down, Raphael.” It didn’t escape his notice that he failed to answer the question. 

“Track me down?” Raf put his arms back down to his sides. 

“Its only taken three days.” Mutton Chops rolled his eyes. 

Raf’s blood ran cold. These were the strangers that were looking for him. Aside from the bald man, they didn’t look like the school recruiting type. 

The Bald Man and The white haired woman shot Mutton Chops a brief glare. “My name is Professor Charles Xavier. These are my associates, Ororo Munroe,” He pointed to the woman, “and Logan.” he gestured to Mutton Chops. “I’m here in Jasper to talk to you about my school for gifted youngsters.”

‘ _For people like you. Like Us_.’ Professor Xavier’s voice echoed in his head. 

Raf tried to take a step back, but the wall stopped him. He wasn’t being threatened into a corner like before, but he still wanted out. 

“We just want to talk. You’re not obligated to anything.” The woman, Ororo Munroe, spoke. She had kind eyes. He wanted to trust them, but surely he had to be losing his mind. 

Raf didn’t want to handle this right now, at least not alone. “That’s it? Just talk?”

“Yes, and if you aren’t interested we’ll leave.” Professor Xavier smiled at him again. 

“Okay,” Raf glanced at Bee, “Meet me at mile marker 2015 in…” Raf briefly calculated how long this would take to explain. He figured it was better to air on the side of caution and give himself more time than was probably necessary, “Three hours.” 

“In the middle of nowhere? You’re bold, kid, I’ll give you that.” Logan huffed. 

“We’ll see you there.” 

Raf nodded at them before bolting. Bee flung the door open for him and he gratefully hoped in. 

“ _I’m starting to think I can’t pick you up without something going wrong._ ” Normally he would’ve appreciated the attempt at humor. Maybe he would once blood returned to his face. “ _What was all that anyway?_ ” 

“I’ll explain at base. Just drive Bee, we only have three hours to get ready.” Ready for what, he didn’t know. Things were strange, stranger than they had been recently. He didn’t know what to make of it. 

BumbleBee raced down the highway, leaving the speed limit far behind. When they’d pass a cop he’d slow down, but was definitely still pushing it. Bee never asked for an answer or explanation. He took him at his word and trusted he knew what he was talking about. For that Raf was grateful. 

As soon as he came through the passage into base he slowed down slightly, but still skidded to a stop. 

Optimus, Ratchet, and Bulkhead all turned to look at the scene. Acree, Jack, and Miko weren’t there yet. Under normal circumstances Raf would’ve been beet red under so many scrutinous optics. This was anything but normal circumstances though. 

“You could’ve hit something BumbleBee! Slow it down!” Ratchet raged before returning to his work. Bee transformed and looked slightly sheepish, rubbing the back of his head. 

“It's not his fault, I needed to get here quickly!” Bee lifted Raf onto his shoulder so he could more easily communicate with the autobots. “I was right! Something is happening!” IT was getting harder for him to breath. Things never directly happened to him, at least not outside of school bullies. Things were happening now though, and maybe he was overreacting, but he didn’t care. 

“Is it cons?” Bulkhead already had his wrecking ball arm attachment ready to go. 

“No, it's... different. It's what I was trying to explain before.” 

“Please elaborate then, Raphael.” Optimus, as always, made sure he could speak. He went on to tell them about what had just happened, leaving as much about Vince out as possible. It wasn’t important and he didn’t need them worrying anyway. Not about that at least. 

“So it was kinda like a comms unit then?” Bulkhead asked when he mentioned hearing the Professor's voice in his head. 

“We don’t have comms units like that though, Bulkhead! That kinda thing doesn’t happen! It's not possible.” Bulkhead’s optics widened at his little outburst. “I’m sorry. This is just freaky. This doesn’t happen.” 

“From your account this does seem suspicious.” Optimus looked thoughtfully towards the distance. 

“And you agreed to meet with them?” Ratchet crossed his arms and huffed. “If they are as dangerous as you think they are why would you agree to put yourself in danger like that?” 

Raf wrung out his hands. “I panicked. And...I knew I’d have you guys.” He sighed. There was part of it he was loath to admit. “I’m also curious what they have to say. Yeah, most likely I think they’re bad news and probably with MECH or something but…I have to know. If this IS related to what’s been going on with me around technology lately, I HAVE to know.” 

Ratchet rolled his optics, huffing once again and throwing his arms up. Optimus’s faceplate softened to a look of concern and understanding. “With recent events in mind it is good you’re hesitant, and, if they are hostile, going back on the agreement could provoke them further.” Optimus looked to Ratchet. “Can we put a small comms unit on his person?”

He bobbed his head in thought. “I might have one small enough to fit in his backpack. Why? What do you have in mind, Optimus?”

“If this is in fact a new enemy, then it should be I who accompanies young Raf to this meeting. However, should backup be necessary I want you, BumbleBee and Bulkhead to be listening in.”

“ _Shouldn’t I come too?_ ” Bee put a servo over Raf protectively. 

Raf sighed, “It might look strange to have two cars pull up and only one have a driver.” he wanted his guardian to come, but he didn’t think he had any authority to question Optimus’s plan. 

“Indeed.” Optimus placed a servo on Bee’s other shoulder, “And while I understand your desire to protect your charge we do not know what to expect. I’d rather it be me in the face of danger than you.” Bee hung his head, but accepted the answer. 

“We have an hour left before I said I’d meet them.” 

“I’ll go look for that small comms unit then.” Ratchet shook his head and headed into the back of the Base. 

“Don’t worry Raf. If anything happens me and Bee will bridge in so fast they won’t know what hit ‘em.” Bulk punched his own open hand and smiled at him. Raf wished he held the same confidence. 

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Jasper, Nevada_

_Mile Marker 205_

The sun beat down on them relentlessly. They had gotten there slightly early, having nothing better to do. Even in the car with the AC on Charles was sweating. He knew Ororo and Logan weren’t fairing any better. 

“Why would a kid that young want to meet all the way out here anyway?” Logan wiped sweat from his brow. “He’s so damn suspicious of us, shouldn’t he have wanted to meet somewhere public? I don’t like this Charles.”

“He has shown some odd behavior. The teleporting alone does give cause for concern if it isn’t something you’re able to pick up on.” Storm said. 

“Regardless, we will offer him a place at the school. He’s probably confused as to what all is happening. His abilities only just fully activated after all.”Charles knew there was risk, there always was, but so many young mutants were lost and scared. He had to help them. 

“Fully?” Ororo asked. 

“Like I mentioned, I had been monitoring this area for some time now due to odd activity in the area. I could detect his ability, but it was passive. He probably had no idea he was different until now. I suspect it may have helped him in school, given his academic status.” 

“Kid is one of the lucky ones.” 

In the distance a bright blue and red semi-truck approached them. Charles scrunched his eyebrows together. He definitely sensed a mutant in the driver’s seat. “Raphael Esqueviel is full of surprises.” 

They looked at him, eyebrows raised. “You can’t be serious?” Logan groaned. 

“Indeed, I am.” Charles couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of it. Ororo joined him, while Logan got out of the vehicle. Ororo assisted him with the wheelchair, and sure enough as the rig pulled closer they could make out the unique silhouette of Raphael’s hair. 

The semi pulled over in front of them. An awkward pause settled over them as they waited for the young man to step out of the vehicle. He spent several minutes loitering inside, appearing to talk to himself. They couldn’t make out what he was saying, but he seems more at ease afterwards. Finally the small boy climbed down from the semi’s cab. 

“You have a lot of cars for someone who doesn’t have a license, kid.” Logan scoffed. Raphael said nothing. 

“I’m glad you decided to meet with us.” Charles gave him a warm smile. 

“I just want to know what this is about.” Raphael crossed his arms and attempted to look neutrally at them. The figitting of his fingers gave him away. 

“Of course. Raphael, the school I run is unlike any other school you’ve been approached by or attended.”

“‘Gifted Youngsters’ is more literal than some may believe.” Ororo smiled. 

“Go on.”

“There are people in the world who have abilities beyond that of regular people. You yourself are one of those people. As am I, Ororo and Logan.” Charles began. “In your DNA is the x-gene. In your case this means you can mentally manipulate and control technology. IT may have even given you an advanced understanding of mathematics, although I’m uncertain about that part.” He wheeled himself forward, but stopped when Raphael stepped back. “I would like to help you hone that ability, learn to control it, so it does not control you.” 

The boy looked down, silent for a long moment. His crossed arms dropped to his sides and Charles didn’t need to read his mind to know he was fighting himself to not wring his hands. “Why should I believe you?” He said and finally looked back up at them. 

“You’ve not noticed anything odd happening lately? No sudden, unexplainable events.” Ororo asked, voice soft and unaccussing. _‘I thought you said his powers had been more active lately?’_

Charles caught the thought meant for him. _‘Yes, they have.’_ The boy was definitely different. Charles fought down a smirk. 

“Lots of odd things happen around here. There are a lot of other explanations that make much more sense.” Raphael was undeterred. 

Logan wasted no time in giving him proof. His claws shot out from between his knuckles with a _SNICK_. “That proof enough?” 

The blood drained from his face. “That’s certainly...something.” Logan retracted them and the sound made Raphael wince. 

“Ororo here can control weather patterns.” Charles said, _‘and I’m a telepath as I’m sure you’ve gathered.’_ Raphael nodded. “We are mutants. My school is made for people like us, for us to learn and grow so we may control our gifts and enter the world unafraid of them.” 

“You seem like good people but,” Raphael shook his head, “I have reason to be suspicious of anyone looking to gather powerful people. Not everyone is out there looking to help others.” 

“Too right you are, but it's difficult out there alone.” Ororo smiled at him. 

“I’m not alone.” Raphael glanced briefly back at the semi. 

“Kid, this is bigger than whatever science project you got going on.” Logan said. Charles could tell he was done holding back and internally winced. “You’re going to want back up when government goons or the Brotherhood come looking for you. You got an ability that’s pretty damn useful in the wrong hands. They won’t be as nice as we are.” 

“Unfortunately, Logan is right.” Charles pulled a card out of his jacket pocket. “But our doors are always open.”

The poor boy was entirely pale now, but took the card regardless. “Thanks.” With that he walked away, jumped back into the cab of the semi, and was gone.

“Logan, you were far too brash with the boy.” Ororo admonished.

“But he wasn’t wrong.” They both looked at him quizzically. “Logan, I want you to stay here for a few days. Magneto has been right on our trail when it comes to new mutants, and if he forces the boy to work with him, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”

“Should’ve kept my damn mouth shut.” Logan grumbled, but he knew the Professor was right. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so what I'm thinking it I'll make a story per "Season" so to speak. Each show has three seasons and I do plan to recreate several episodes with the shows interwoven together. This of course will change the further we go in. So we shall see but that's my general plan. 
> 
> But seriously, what did yall think? Please let me know! I love feedback! :)
> 
> *That was the episode Predatory happening to give you an idea of the timeline.


	4. MECH-staken Identity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raf and the autobot team try to figure out what to do now that they know he is a mutant. A few wrong words and the pre-teen spirals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the chapter I was MOST excited to write (although chapter 5 is a very close 2nd) I REALLY hope you enjoy it, the scene in this chapter is what helped inspire the entire fic. 
> 
> BTW did I say light angst? EHHHHH maybe more mild angst this chapter. Raf doesn't take the news well.

Raf POV

He was grateful Optimus didn’t say anything during the brief ride back to base. A million thoughts were swarming in his head and he didn’t know if he could work out a coherent sentence much less discuss what just happened. 

A mutant. 

People with powers, the stuff of fantasy and far fetched science fiction. 

It was one thing to be around the autobots. They were aliens. They’re existence only made statistical sense even if their appearance on Earth was against the odds. These were super humans. 

He was a super human. 

What did that mean?

They entered the winding tunnel that led directly to the underground base. He would need time to wrap his mind around this. Just the implications were sevre. The room opened up before them, and Raf saw that Arcee, Miko and Jack had joined the others. He hoped they had just gotten there and hadn’t heard anything. Optimus stopped, allowing him to hop out. 

“Dude, you’re a superhero!” Miko bounded over to him, eye huge and glistening with excitement. 

Jack stood a couple of steps back from her. “We got back not long after you left. We heard the whole thing.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Is she right? Were they...what they said they were?” While he may not have said it, Raf heard the implied question all too clearly. ‘ _ Are you human?’ _

Miko turned to jack, lightly smacking his shoulder, “I told you it was super power! You didn’t believe me, but I was right!” She punched the air excitedly. 

Raf couldn’t let himself react. He knew if he tried to speak, it would come out as a scream. So he stood, stiff as a board, and pretended this wasn’t happening. 

Bee looked at him,  _ “Are you okay?” _

“Pffftt,” Ratchet huffed, “We had the .1%ers on Cybertron. Yes it's unusual, but I don’t see what the big deal is.” The blank looks from the three humans must have clued him into the fact that they had no idea what he was talking about. “Cybertronians with exceptional abilities.”

“Is...that not a thing on Earth.” Bulkhead asked, Miko now squealing about the idea of super powered autobots. 

“No, it's not.” Raf’s voice was flat, monotone. “Except, apparently, it is.”

“So, why didn’t you go with them?” Arcee said. Raf hadn’t talked to the femme much. Being entirely honest, she intimidated him. She may have been the smallest, they least physically intimidating to an outsider, but she was also the coldest. Even Optimus, as stoic as he was, had a fatherly warmth about him. She lacked that. Jack had managed to befriend her, and Bee viewed her as a sister, so Raf didn’t dislike her. He was just weary. Now even she, an alien from another planet, was calling him a freak. 

“She’s kinda got a point.” Jack agreed with her. 

_ Of course he does,  _ Raf thought. 

“I was surprised by your refusal as well.” Optimus spoke for the first time since the meeting. “If these abilities have been out of your control like you said, it may be beneficial for you to learn from those who have experience similar to yours.” 

Raf stopped breathing. Optimus was the leader. He was the one everyone looked to for guidance, acceptance. Raf, along with Miko and Jack, may have been new, but Optimus made them feel welcomed. The feeling of unity and strength came directly from him. Even he was rejecting Raf. 

Bee was still looking at him, optics wide.  _ “Raf?”  _ Bee offered a servo for him to get onto Bee’s shoulder. Raf didn’t move.  _ “You’re shaking.”  _ Glancing at his hands, he saw Bee was right. He was shaking, but it felt like it was someone else. It had to be someone else.

“You could’ve been part of a superhero team!” Miko shouted, “Think about it, a team of superpowers, humans and autobots! Kicking tail pipe across the cosmos!” She gave the air quite the beating, throwing punches and kicks to emphasize her point. 

“I…” Raf felt the blood leave his face as he tried to speak. It was only a whisper, but it was that or a scream. “I can’t just….I can’t just leave my family...leave you guys… I can’t….” The words caught in his throat. 

“Raf…” Jack inched towards him, eyebrows knitted together in concern. Raf took a step back.

They were all telling him he should be gone. 

They wanted him gone. 

“I thought…” Raf shook his head, the tremors in his hands even worse now. “I thought...I thought...Why do you…” There were too many thoughts, too many questions. He didn’t know which one to ask first, if he should ask any at all. 

“Raf?”

“Just stop!” Raf snapped, screaming at him. He regretted it the moment he did. Not just because of the hurt look on Jack’s face, although that didn’t help, but because of the electricity that cracked through the air. 

All five autobots staggered, holding their heads. Ratchet ground his dentin together. Arcee and Bee held a wall for support. Miko clung to Bulkhead as he groaned and shook. Optimus was the most composed, but his optics were still screwed shut. The control panel sparked. The bridge crackled. 

The silence that followed was deafening. Everyone froze, staring at him.

A small flame erupting from the control panel broke the spell that had fallen over them, but not the tension. Ratchet grabbed a cybertronian sized fire extinguisher and promptly put the flame out. “Raphael, I needed that!” 

Raf starred, wide eyed at them. Ratchet and Optimus seemed to recover fairly quickly. Arcee he couldn’t read. Bulk and BumbleBee both still looked dazed. He had hurt them. 

He had hurt Bee. 

“Bro, you just did that!” Miko shrieked, excited, unaware yet that Bulkhead was still affected. 

_ I just did that _

Blood turned to ice in his veins. He wasn’t shaking anymore. He didn’t move at all until he had to wipe the tears from his eyes. 

“Raf, you okay?” Jack asked. He had been trying to tend to Arcee, not that the femme would let him do anything even if he could. Now his focus was back on Raf. 

_ No, no I’m not. But I’m not the one that got hurt.  _ He couldn’t say the words, too afraid of what they would do. Instead he ran. 

Barely registering his own footfalls, he soon heard Bee’s behind him. The Mech, his guardian, would probably want to drive him home, comfort him. The risk was too great. His friends couldn’t, shouldn;t get hurt again, not by him. 

He’d call his mom and try to come up with an excuse. 

  
  


Logan POV

Logan checked back into the small motel. It was the finest, and only, motel in the entire town. The lack of cheap beer or cigars nearby cemented the fact that Logan hated Jasper, even its finest parts. 

Sitting on the edge of the lumpy bed he drug his hands down his face. Charles and Storm had left already, leaving him to figure out how to keep tabs on the kid. The problem was how to do it without anyone calling the cops. The kid seemed pretty secretive, probably enough so that he wouldn’t tell anyone anything no matter how bad it got. The problem was everyone else. 

In small towns people talked. They talked  _ a lot _ . Something told Logan that if the wrong, deeply bored, and grumpy old man or fretting grandma saw him he’d have the police on him in no time. He was a 40ish year old man tracking a 12 year old kid after all. 

Not even bothering to turn the lights off Logan threw back the covers and tried to sleep. He still had the rental car and knew where the kid would be. With grades like his no way he’d skip school. It was a start, if not a good one. 

  
  


Raf POV

His mom hardly liked the excuse he had given her yesterday. Bee had liked the idea even less. He wished those were the only reasons he was half asleep today. The nightmares that haunted him and prevented anything close to restful sleep. Even now when he closed his eyes he kept seeing images of the autobots, in pain, writhing, smoking from the helm, because of him. 

He drifted through classes, half asleep, half aware. For a moment he felt relief when he noticed Vince wasn’t trying to corner him today. Then he remembered Xavier and his ability and shivered. Humans were at a single man’s will. It was not a pleasant thought. 

Even if the others didn’t want him, he couldn’t bring himself to contact the school for “gifted youngsters”. 

Miko and Jack had tried to talk to him several times. He ignored them as best he could. He couldn’t bare to hear about how “cool” this was or how they “didn’t blame him” or how “he should consider that school”. They were his only friends. It hurt too much to face them and their judgement right now, no matter how much they tried to disguise it as pity or concern. 

It was last period, and Miko was still trying. “Dude, you gotta talk to us.” She thought she was whispering. It was only because the math teacher had lost her hearing aid yesterday that she wasn’t in trouble immediately. Miko was pushing her luck though, and Raf knew it. “Duuudddeee.” Miko shoved him slightly. He answered with a glare. 

Her face scrunched, confused. He stayed silent. It was a staring contest at this point, neither wanting to budge. 

“Miss Nakadai, stop bothering my top student!” The teacher must have finally turned around and noticed. Raf knew she played favorites, and while he disagreed with the idea, he usually tried to use it to help his friends. He didn’t have it in him today. 

“I’m not bothering him! Tell her Raf.” Miko crossed her arms, smirking, sure she’d get out of this like every other time. 

“I don’t know what she’s talking about.” The dark circles under his eyes and his dead stare matched his flat tone. Miko gaped at him. 

“Detention, Miss Nakadai!” 

“Ah, come on!” Miko groaned, but it was too late. The bell rang and Raf winced as he left the classroom, Miko not even bothering to follow him. She’d be stuck there for an hour at least. He hadn’t meant for her to get detention. He never meant to do any harm. He just kept hurting people anyway. 

Bulkhead and BumbleBee were both waiting outside the school. Jack had probably already left for work with Arcee. Wiping a hand down his face, Raf groaned. He had forgotten to ask his mom to pick him up today. BumbleBee gently honked to get his attention. There was no point. Raf would just walk home. 

He walked onto the sidewalk and passed by the Camero. BumbleBee inched forward following him. If the other kids or administrators noticed anything odd, they didn’t say anything.  _ “Raf, come on. Please talk to me.”  _ Bee said. Everyone else would only hear faint beeping. In a way he heard it too, and could see how it wouldn’t be that strange. The sound was just overridden by the meaning for Raf. It was a fact he once treasured, even if he didn’t understand it. 

“You might want to let Bulk know he has a bit of a wait. Miko got detention.” Raf mumbled. To anyone else he looked like he was talking to himself. 

The message must’ve been relayed through the comms, because Bulk drove off. _ “He’ll come back for her in a hour. Bulk has patrol. _ ” Bee paused a moment,  _ “And so do I, if you wanna come along?”  _

“What if I hurt you again?” The words were so quiet Raf wasn’t sure he actually said them aloud.

_ “You won’t. I know you won’t.”  _

“I don’t know that.” Raf looked at him for the first time during the conversation. Even though Bee was in Camaro form, it was still hard directly acknowledging his guardian after yesterday. 

_ “What happened was an accident. Everyone knows that.” _ Raf stopped walking to focus on stopping the tears from falling.  _ “Let’s go on patrol together, forget about yesterday, and we’ll deal with everything later.” _

“You didn’t answer my question, Bee. What if I hurt you?” 

Bee sighed, the beep sounding long and low to those outside the conversation.  _ “I don’t think you will. But, even if you do that thing again, Raf, it really wasn’t worse than a headache. I’ve taken harder hits from cons I promise.” _

Raf looked towards the sky, as if expecting the answer to drop down from out of nowhere. He was punishing himself, he knew it. The thing was he deserved it, even if he didn’t want to be miserable. It was the last few whining coos from Bee that let him be selfish. “Okay, lets go.” Bee threw open the door and Raf climbed in. As soon as Raf was buckled in Bee took off at breakneck speed, not letting the boy have time to change his mind. 

_ “Ratchet detected a new energon reading not too far from Base. We’re going to be scoping it out today, and hopefully turn up some supplies. _ ” Bee explained as the raced through the desert. 

“What about cons?” Raf shook his head. He couldn’t believe he didn’t think of that until now. 

“It's unlikely they would bother. The readings say it's a pretty small site.” Bee paused. “We’re more desperate for energon than they are.” 

Raf nodded. The autobots never really talked about it, but it was obvious they were ill-stocked. Raf was going to comment, ask if there was any way he could help. When he spotted a car in Bee’s rearview mirror. “Uh, Bee?” 

“I see it too.” 

  
  


Logan POV

The kid had taken his sweet time leaving the school. After that he was a speed demon. The rental car was barely able to keep up and not look suspicious. How this kid regularly avoided the cops he would never know. 

At first he was able to follow the kid’s scent. It wasn’t his preferred method of tracking, but it worked. Now that they were in the middle of the dessert going this fast, there was no chance he could track him that way. If he lost the kid now, he’d never find him until the next school day, and Logan didn’t like the feeling of lurking outside any school, except maybe the professor’s. Not to mention the fact that anything could happen between now and tomorrow. The forces that be never rested, good or evil. 

Logan made sure he hung back. With no other cars on the road though, the kid would have to be stupid not to notice. Logan rolled down his window to see if he could still get a scent. Taking in a long wiff, he didn’t smell the kid at all. However, there was something odd about the car. 

It wasn’t gas or diesel. Thing looked like a normal Camaro, but with the kid being a super genius and technopath there was no telling what he had done to it. It was definitely some kind of fuel. He didn’t have a name for it, but he could track it. 

Sure enough, the Camarro put the pedal to the metal and left him in the dust. It was no matter now. The scent was easy enough to track. He’d let the kid think he had gotten away, give him some peace of mind. 

Slowing the rental down, he’d take it slow for now. Kid couldn’t possibly get into that much trouble that fast.

  
  


Raf POV 

Raf breathed a sigh of relief. The car had made no attempts to keep up with them and Bee’s scans had shown it wasn’t a con. “I’m getting paranoid. Thanks though, Bee. I’m glad we lost them.”

_ “You kidding, _ ” Bee laughed, “ _ I never pass up an opportunity to push how fast I can go. _ ”

Raf laughed with him and felt light again for a moment. It soon left when he remembered how the guy with the claws, Logan, mentioned shady organizations that tracked down mutants. He shook his head trying to get rid of the thought. 

_ Mutant _

What an awful way to put it, even if technically it was true. The seat belt tightened around him, the closest him and Bee had ever gotten to a proper hug. Raf was grateful he didn’t say anything though. 

_ “We’re not far from the energon deposit.” _ Bee pulled him from his thoughts and back to the present. 

“Right. Why didn’t you guys find this before?”

_ “Ratchet is constantly improving, or repairing, the scanning equipment. So either he fixed something or it was just too small for us to detect before.” _ Bee explained. “ _ This should be it around the turn, keep your eyes peeled.” _

They went around the bend and Raf’s eyes widened. It wasn’t energon. There were several large, black, SUVs parked and men in full body suits armed to the teeth. 

It was MECH. 

  
  


Logan POV

Apparently, the kid could get into  _ a lot _ of trouble that quickly. He was only 5 minutes behind him and he was already surrounded by goons with guns. It wasn’t the brotherhood then. Logan knew that meant one thing. 

Kid may have been a pain in the ass but he’d be damned if he let those government types get him. 

They drew their guns and a white haired military type began speaking to the kid. Logan knew he didn’t have anytime to waste. 

He lept into the fray, in front of the kid, before the asshole could get a word out. Growling and deploying his claw with a  _ snickt _ he faced down the armed men. Most were masked, but white haired guy’s face was visible. His jaw dropped for only a moment before being replaced with a smirk. 

Without looking back he warned, “Get outta here, Kid.” When he didn’t hear the engine start he turned briefly, “I said go!” The tires squealed as the car sped away. Before the goons could get a shot off, Logan lept at them. 

He sliced through one goon’s gun. Kicking another, he felt shots from a third. Shrugging it off, he turned to punch that one, claws still out. He felt the bullets push out of his back, just as others took their place. 

“Don’t let the specimen escape!” The white haired man ordered. Two goons hopped in a car, speeding in the direction the kid went. 

His claws ripping through another goon's neck, he ran after the car. A gunshot to the knee stopped him. The white haired man strolled up to him. “And who might you be?” His voice was calm, unphased, with only a twinge of excitement. 

“None of your business, bub.” He threw an uppercut, only for him to dodge. The bullet worked its way out of his knee. Logan growled, ready to pounce. The only thing that stopped him was the giant yellow robot riding the pursuit vehicle like a roller skate. The two goons in the front seat were unharmed, but screaming. White Hair scowled. 

The robot stopped and slung the car towards the cluster of goons. It then ran back towards Logan. Before he could react it scooped him up, and while still running transformed into a car around him, putting him in the passenger seat. Bullets ricocheted off the vehicle as they sped away. 

Around the bend it stopped briefly allowing the kid, Raphael, to hop in before speeding off again. 

  
  


Raf POV

  
  


_ This is bad _

_ Very bad  _

Raf panicked. He couldn’t do much besides stare at Logan wide eyed. He had told Bee they couldn’t just leave him, but he didn’t expect Bee to do  _ that _ . 

“You've been holding out on us, kid.” Logan smirked and leaned back into the seat. His clothes were riddled with holes, each one rimmed with blood, but Raf didn’t see a single injury. 

“You really do heal fast…” The words slipped out, quiet. 

Logan simply snorted in response. 

_ “I gotta contact Ratchet, we need a bridge back to base. There’s no telling if MECH is tailing us or how they found us.”  _ Bee said, and Raf was glad at that moment that all Logan would hear is a series of beeps. Still, the large man looked at the center console perplexed. Raf nodded, hoping Bee could tell he agreed. _ “BumbleBee to base. The signal was MECH, repeat signal was MECH. I need an emergency bridge-” _ Bee cute himself off,  _ “-Do not bridge to base! I have a passenger!.”  _

“What in Primus’ name was MECH doing there?” Ratchet answered over comms. Raf’s eyes went wider and his whole body tensed. Logan looked at him, eyebrow quirked. 

_ Oh Primus. Do I go ahead and tell him? He doesn’t  _ look  _ like he thinks there’s anything odd here. But he said himself he’s a mutant, he might be used to odd things including aliens. Would aliens be his first though? No, probably robots right? But he heard the name MECH, did Silas say something?  _

The thoughts raced in Raf’s mind faster than Bee ever could. While Logan looked mildly confused, he couldn’t tell about what. He couldn’t blow the autobots cover, but it might have already been blown. The whole while Bee and Ratchet’s conversation never stopped. Logan didn’t say a word. 

The familiar green and blue swirl of the ground bridge opened up before them and spat them out right outside the other side of Jasper. Logan, despite the first bridge experience for humans normally being rough, did not react. 

_ Well, he DID just get shot too. _

“So, where’s your hotel?” Raf asked, biting back a laugh at how normal a question it was. Logan gave the address and Bee took the course. All this time Raf hadn’t put his hands on the wheel. He did so now only to prevent getting pulled over. Logan must’ve noticed because he gave another amused snort. It didn’t tell Raf anything about what he found amusing though. 

There was silence the entire ride to the motel. A small dump, not in a bad area, but not a good one either. Bee pulled into a parking space and Logan stepped out. “Thanks, kid.” They watched as he sauntered into his room. 

Logan POV

Logan put on a quick change on clothes. He held up his ruined jacket and shook his head. Taking a seat on the bed he pulled out his phone and dialed the Professor. Charles picked up on the second ring. 

“Hey Prof, you’re gonna wanna get back here. You were right about the po-dunk little town. There’s more than meets the eye here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know my action writing isn't great but AHHHH yes! I really hope you found it enjoyable none the less.  
> I have some really fun ideas brewing for the future involving aspects heavy in both series, so if you're not happy with the very little x-men interaction right now, I understand and I'm working on it. I realize Logan is less so evolution and more movie but, it works better for what I want to do. I hope yall don't mind.


	5. A Prime and a Professor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the run in with M.E.C.H there is some explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, its been a minute. I did not mean to get this side tracked, but I'm back now! Honestly, I'm so glad too, this chapter was a lot of fun. Part of the reason it took so long though was because I thought it would be much shorter. Whoops. Anyway, hope it was worth the wait at least!

Raf POV

“Bee, he saw everything.” Raf slumped into the driver’s seat. “MECH saw everything.” 

BumbleBee paused for a moment before responding. “ _ Yep. Yep that definitely happened.” _

“He heard Ratchet too, Bee.” 

“ _ Yep.” _ BumbleBee was even driving slow at this point, cars passing him on either side. “ _ We’re fragged. _ ” Raf nodded numbly in agreement. 

With no other option they drove back to base. They would have to explain everything there. The little they could get out to Ratchet before almost certainly hadn’t been enough. The ride was filled with nothing but silence. Bee tightened the seatbelt around Raf, but he was too numb. Worlds were colliding and they’d have to face the consequences. 

Bee entered the tunnel into the old missile silo and Raf took a deep breath to steady his nerves. It didn’t work. 

Raf winced at the sight of Jack and Arcee as they pulled into the main area. The last time he had seen them hadn’t been great for anyone involved. Ratchet immediately turned to look at them, Optimus not far behind though much calmer. 

“What happened?” Ratchet demanded. 

Raf slunk out of Bee as he transformed. Before they could answer the rather awkward question though, Bulkhead sped into the room with Miko whooping loudly. She jumped out and Bulkhead also transformed into his full stature. As soon as she laid eyes on Raf her relaxed posture vanished, replaced by crossed arms and a glare. “Not cool about earlier, dude. I only JUST got out of there thanks to the teacher chewing me out for 30 extra minutes after the detention.” 

“I know, I’m sorry Miko.” Raf rubbed the back of his neck, “I was upset, I’m still upset, but something happened.” He turned to Optimus. “I’m so, so, sorry.” 

_ “Its my fault sir, I should’ve been more cautious. _ ” Bee chirped up, quick to cover for Raf. 

“No, he was only there because of me.” hanging his head, Raf wished he wasn’t such an obstacle. 

“Would you both stop apologizing and just explain what happened already!” Ratchet looked ready to blow a gasket. 

Both Bee and Raf winced and the older bot’s tone. Optimus simply nodded at them, waiting for an explanation. If he was upset so far, the Prime didn’t show it. So they told the tail of how Logan had followed them, right into a MECH ambush, taking turns talking depending on who had the better perspective at the time. 

“A single guy handled a bunch of MECH goons?” Miko squealed, “So cool!”

“You exposed yourself to another human!” Ratchet yelled. 

“...mutant, technically.” Jack quipped. He and Arcee both looked equally uncomfortable at what had just gone down. 

Raf cleared his throat and continued, “The good thing is, we’re not sure if he understands what he saw. This guy, Logan, I think he thinks I built Bee. They called me a technopath, they know I’m good with technology. He might just assume it's part of my…” Raf hesitated, loath to say the word, “mutation.” 

“ _ Except Ratchet spoke over my comms… _ ” Bee said, earning a glare from the medic.

“Oh so now it's my fault!” Ratchet threw his servos in the air, “Sorry for trying to bridge you out of danger.” 

“I don’t think they meant anything of the sort, old friend.” Optimus laid a hand on Ratchet’s shoulder to try to calm him. “Regardless of whether or not this Logan is aware of our presence, MECH is now aware of his. Knowing them they will hunt down any knowledge they can on mutants, putting all of them in danger.”

“Welcome to the club.” Arcee scoffed. 

“That is why, I believe it is only right we speak to them ourselves.”

The Autobots erupted into protests. Arcee and Ratchet were the loudest among them. 

Miko couldn’t have been more ecstatic. 

“Optimus, think about this for a moment.” Ratchet pleaded

“How do we know we can even trust them anyway?” 

Optimus held up a servo to quiet them down. “They themselves seem to be a rather secretive group. I believe they will see it is in both of our best interests to be inconspicuous. And even if they are under the wrong impression about what Logan saw, it would be impossible to explain the dangers of MECH without explaining us” 

Given MECH’s history, it is only right to take the chance and warn them.” Optimus looked to Raf. “Do you still have their contact information?”

Raf gulped. “Yes, sir.”

  
  


Charles POV

After Logan’s call Charles had gotten Ororo to bring the jet back to Jasper Nevada. As it happened they were only in the air for an hour before he got a call. “Hello Rafael. What can I help you with?” A small smile graced his face. The boy clearly needed guidance, and Charles was relieved the young man realized it. 

“I need you to meet me at these coordinates.” Charles noticed his phone buzzed from the incoming message. “There’s something you need to know.” The phone clicked, the call ended. 

The flight wasn’t terribly long, but it was silent. He had been aware of strange happenings, but so far hadn’t gotten any answers, nor did he have any logical guesses of his own. So tense forbidding took over him and Ororo. 

When they landed they explained to Logan the change of plans. “Of course the kid called you too.” 

“Do you care to fill us in, Logan?” Ororo asked, just as confused. 

“I have a feeling you’ll see for yourself.” 

Raf POV

Raf had nearly worn a hole in the floor from pacing nervously. The constant motion had an already irritated Ratchet on edge, so when Bee offered him a place on his shoulder, Raf readily agreed. Being with his guardian helped ease his anxiety, but not as much as either of them hoped it would. 

This was putting the autobots in danger of being more exposed. Of course Optimus would want to protect any human in any way he could, but Raf still felt guilty. If he hadn’t fried those computers, his video game, none of this would’ve happened. 

His anxiety spiked higher as he heard their car coming into base. Sweat beaded on his forehead as Miko whooped. Logan and Ororo stepped out of the car and helped Xavier out. For their first time laying eyes on the autobots, Raf thought they kept themselves remarkably composed. Ororo and Logan both had quirked eyebrows and Raf thought he had caught Ororo nearly gasp, but she hid it with a swift motion of her hand. Xavier just smiled wryly. 

Jack looked at Raf and gave him a brief nod and thumbs up. Raf smiled back meekly. He appreciated the thought, but there was nothing reassuring about this. Until he knew the bots would be okay, he couldn’t relax. The same could not be said for Miko. 

Before anyone could say anything she sprinted up to Logan. “Are you the one with claws! I bet you could take on a Con!” Raf nearly face palmed right then and there. 

“Miko, come on, let OP explain stuff first, okay.” Bulkhead offered his hand for Miko to climb on. She pouted but complied. 

“Well, Rafael you certainly keep interesting company.” Charles addressed Raf, unphased to find him on Bumblebee’s shoulder. 

Raf scratched the back of his neck, “Yeah, you could say that.” He looked to Optimus for some kind of sign of what to do. Optimus nodded and took over. 

“We are the Autobots, refugees from planet Cybertron. I am Optimus Prime. The children, including young Rafael, accidentally happened upon us. Ever since, we have made sure that they stay safe from our enemies who would exploit them if given the chance.” 

“Like the ones I tore up?” Logan said, arms crossed. 

“M.E.C.H is a newer threat and the reason I found it best to explain the situation to you. They are likely to be a threat to you, given their nature and goals.” Optimus gave a thorough explanation of their experience with M.E.C.H. and their obsession with technology and weapons, now potentially bioweapons. This led to a few clarification questions from the Professor and Ororo, both making sure they fully understood the situation. Logan stayed eerily silent, nostrils flaring. 

Optimus continued on to give a brief description of the Decepticons as well, given as they had had contact with the Autobots now, and were now a potential target. 

“I see. Unfortunately, we are not strangers to organizations looking to experiment on us. That is part of the reason we wanted to help you, Rafael.” Xavier said. Raf cringed, he would rather stay as far away from this conversation as possible. It seemed the professor was determined to bring him into it, however. 

“Yes, and as you can see,” Ratchet spoke for the first time since all this began, “He is perfectly safe with us.” He crossed his arms, huffing. The big bot pretended he didn’t care, but Raf knew better. 

“Hope you’re not magnetic then.” Logan said, he posture near mirroring Ratchet’s. Raf doubted either noticed. 

The Autobots shared a look all around. Ratchet asked first, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Logan went to answer but the Professor stopped him. “Mutations take on many forms. Some of which very well, may affect you. Just as you have these Decepticons from your planet, we have mutant enemies we do our best to protect humanity from.” 

“Such is the dichotomy of man, or should I say sentient beings.” Ororo smiled. Out of all of them Raf liked her most. She seemed the safest. That might be why the phrase got a smile out of him. Until she looked at him. “And you are caught in the middle.” She gave him a sad smile. 

He tapped Bee’s neck, signaling to let him down. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stay out of this and he felt strange talking down to these people. “I don’t want to be. The Autobots are my-” He nearly said family, but thought better of it at the last second, reluctant to put them on the stop when things were already tense. “My friends.” 

“What’s your point, kid?” 

Maybe it was from having just been on Bee’s shoulder, maybe it was because he was surrounded by his found family, maybe it was because the man had tailed him in the first place, but whatever it was Raf was not having any of the gruff man’s attitude. “My point is I’m not leaving them!”

“Who said you would have to?” Ororo tilted her head. 

“What?”

“We have no intention of making you do anything you don’t want to do, Rafael. If I’m not mistaken you have a teleportation device. We would be more than happy to give you our coordinates and you can coexist here and at my school.” 

“That ground bridge uses vital energon and I will not be using it to do useless ferrying between two places. Why don’t you find someone with warp capabilities to do it.” Ratchet tsked. Raf winced, but he knew he was right. He would hate to be responsible for using up such a vital resource. 

“Unfortunately, you are right old friend.” He looked to the Professor, “Energon is our fuel source and life blood. It is rare here on Earth, but as Ratchet stated, quite vital.” 

“It's your lifeblood and fuels machines?” Logan said incredulously. 

“Perhaps that we can help with.” Ororo said, giving a quick glance to Xavier. They held eye contact a moment longer. While Raf couldn’t prove it he had a feeling they were talking like how he had projected his thoughts into his head before. He shivered at the idea. The experience hadn’t been pleasant for him, but they did it willingly. 

“Ororo has a point.” Xavier folded his hands. “Given the state of things it is possible and even likely we will encounter each other’s enemies. It may be mutually beneficial for us to be Allies. If this energon is something you can track, we would have no problem retrieving it when need be.”

“And what exactly would you want in return?” Arcee said. For once Raf had to agree with her regarding the situation. 

“A technopath in Bucket Head’s hands would be a nightmare.” Logan said. Ororo sighed deeply. 

“I thought it was just him that could read minds, how’d you know that’s what we call Megatron? Have you been psychically talking!” Miko asked. Bulkhead quickly tried to shush her. 

“What Logan means is that our enemies would benefit greatly from someone with Rafael’s ability. I want to teach him to hone his gift, but admittedly it would be greatly preferable to keep him away from the brotherhood of mutants.” 

“So, don’t join the dark side and you’ll help the bots find energon?” Jack said, looking up at Arcee. She looked unconvinced, but Raf bet she couldn’t see a downside either. That’s probably why she wasn’t convinced. 

“I suppose that could work. I could send them after signals that would otherwise be not worth pursuing.” Ratchet said, typing a few things onto his consol, doing calculations on what would reap the most rewards. 

“Would that mean even more of you would know about us?” Acree asked, now standing slightly in front of Jack. 

“I would probably have to tell those I send after this energon what it was for, yes. I have the utmost faith in my students to keep a secret.”

“They all keep one everyday. Some of their families don’t even know about their mutation or why they’re at the school.” Ororo morosely said. 

“It would be mutually assured destruction anyway. If you blabbed about us, we of course would be able to reveal you.” Ratchet never looked away from his calculations as he said this. 

Optmius nodded. “While this sounds like a fair arrangement, the choice is ultimately yours, Rafael.” 

Raf had to admit, it wasn’t a bad arrangement. He knew the Autobots were desperate for more energon. And after what had happened so far with his powers he knew the professor had a point: he needed training. Still, there was one person’s blessing he needed. “What do you think, Bee?”

Bee’s optics widened, “ _ I’m with you no matter what, Raf. I trust Optimus’s judgement, but more importantly, I trust your’s. _ ” 

Raf nodded. “Thanks, Bee.” The mech’s wings lifted slightly. 

“You can understand that?” Logan said. Raf caught the Professor suppressing a grin. 

“I’ve always understood BumbleBee.” 

“Is it cause of his powers?!” Miko asked, practically vibrating with excitement. Bulkhead had a servo ready to catch her at any moment should she fall, or jump, from her perch due to her pent up energy.

“Almost certainly, Ms. Nakadai.” Xavier wasn’t even trying to hide his excitement anymore. 

Miko gasped, “How’d you know my name? Did you read my mind?” 

Charles smiled at her. “Yes, just cursory to learn your name. Part of our teachings at my school isn’t just how to use our gifts, but how to use them ethically, and what judgement calls we may be faced with.” He tapped his temple, “Telepathy is a particularly dense ethical minefield.” He turned to face Raf, “One you’ll have to be taught to navigate yourself, given your company.”

There was a stiff moment of silence as Team Prime processed what the Professor had just implied. For once on the exact same page, it was Ratchet and Miko that shattered that silence together. “What?!” 

“You mean to tell me,” Ratchet continued, “That Raf, a human, will be able to listen in to the thoughts of cybertronian processors.”

“Dude, that’s so cool!” Miko jumped up and down, unable to stay still in her excitement. Bulkhead could barely pay attention to the situation, making sure she was okay. 

“Yes, I believe so.” Xavier folded his hands, “In fact, I believe that is how he can understand Bumblebee.” He wheeled himself forward a bit, putting him at the center of the room. “My guess would be that telepathy and technopathy are differentiated through their mediums and little else.” He moved closer to Raf. “When people speak, what they’re saying is often on the very surface of their thoughts. Tell me, when you converse with Bumblebee, do you often understand what he’s said a split second before or after he’s finished talking?”

Raf’s face paled, “Yeah, actually.” He exhaled slowly. “I’ve been reading Bee’s mind this whole time? It's just been passively...there, like that?” 

“This is nothing to be worried over.” Ororo came over to him. “When mutations manifest, we often have no idea. You weren’t aware of your abilities, so try not to feel guilty about this. This is why we train with them, learn how to wield them,” she knelt so that she was at eye level with him, “so they do not wield us.” 

“ _ I’m definitely not upset, Raf _ .” Bee chimed in, “ _ I’m surprised sure, but definitely not mad. It’s been a good thing _ .” 

“I don’t need to be a technopath or telepath to know your friend just told you he isn’t upset with you.” Ororo said. Raf decided he definitely liked her most. 

“So, are you in or not, kid?” Logan said, clearly ready to be done with the encounter. 

Raf looked around at his friends. Bee wasn’t upset, but this was still a huge invasion of privacy. He was also very aware of Arcee shifting uncomfortably next to Jack. The others didn’t look as nervous, but he knew they were at least thinking about it. Given the other mishaps, Raf didn’t want to cause any more harm, and this way, he might even be able to help. “Yeah, I’m in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end of the first "Arc" so to speak. After this I'll probably do a small ark where Raf gets a feel for the mansion, though I'm undecided if any Autobots will join. Jack and Miko definitely will though. I have plans for Miko in this series...so many plans. 
> 
> After that though its gonna kinds go episode by episode recreation of sorts. As we go farther in its gonna get way less canon compliant though. There are interesting aspects I want to explore and I'm excited to move forward, though it'll probably still be very sporadic. Thanks for reading this far!


	6. Managing X-pectations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raf sees what the X Manor is like for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took me this long. This ended up far longer than I thought it would. This is a lot of filler, but its stuff that needed to happen so, oh well. More action coming up in the next few chapters I promise. Hope you enjoy anyway!

_ Jasper Nevada _

_ Saturday, 2:00am _

Raf POV

Raf couldn’t sleep. The conversation he had had with his parents still floated in his mind. The Professor had been there too of course, to help explain. Apparently this was standard for him. Raf was just glad it had been standard to not bring Logan along. Together they had decided that he would continue attending Jasper High like normal, but after school and on the weekends he would use the bridge to go to Xavier’s School for Gifted Children. What they were told was that the school was a few hours away. This made them hesitant of course, because they were a busy family. Raf was able to calm them according to plan by letting them know his friend that took him to school everyday anyway had no problem with taking him on the weekends. They found this reasonable. They had been so happy for him they even made his favorite that night, enchiladas. His siblings had teased him of course, always lovingly. 

He hated it. Lying to them about the bots was one thing. That was interplanetary war, and not his secret to tell. This was different. He was different. Sure, the bots and Jack and Miko were all okay with everything, but they were used to the unusual. His mother nearly fainted when she had seen Miko’s pink hair for the first time. How would she feel about her own son being a mutant? It really didn’t matter. Given how intertwined this had become with the bots, he couldn’t tell them anyway. The urge, the desire, and the fear were all still there though. 

Raf sighed. Glancing at the clock he saw he only had an hour left anyway. The sun wouldn’t be up for another three hours.  _ Stupid time zones.  _ With all the thoughts racing through his head he decided it’d be best to just start getting ready. _ What did you even bring to mutant school anyway? _

He glanced out his window. Bumblebee was parked two houses down, on the curb. The house itself was empty, but it worked the illusion nicely. Raf thought about just going now, but he didn’t want to disturb Bee’s recharge patterns anymore then they already would be. Instead he’d just take his sweet time getting ready. 

He made his way down to the kitchen, only to be surprised by his mother. “Mama?” Raf rubbed his eyes. He checked the time once more, and he was right, it was far too early for her to be up. “Why are you up?” he asked in Spanish. 

“Good morning, baby.” She smiled at him, sipping her coffee. “You didn’t think I’d let you get ready for this Gifted School alone, did you?” She patted the chair next to her. Raf made his way over and hugged his mother tight.

“Thank you, Mama.” They stayed like that for several minutes. The world stayed on hold, the household silent. 

“I’m so proud of you, you know.”

“I know, you tell me all the time.”

“Yes, but do you hear me when I say it, or is it like when I tell you to clean your room?” They both chuckled lightly at that before breaking the embrace. “Come on. I’ll make you breakfast, okay?”

“Okay, mama.” Raf helped his mother make breakfast for the both of them. They kept quiet to keep from waking the whole household, but there were plenty of snickers and chuckles the whole time. The guilt still ate at him, but the fear wasn’t as bad anymore. One day he’d be able to tell his family about what he was, and they’d love him just the same.

Before he knew it time had flown by. No one in the house was up yet, and he suspected his mother might try to sleep again once he left. She shooed him out the door, right on the original schedule. Making his way over to Bee, his spirits were high again. 

“ _ Hey Raf! You ready _ ?” Bee greeted him. It was odd, Bumblebee wasn’t exactly a grouch in the mornings, but he was far from his usual chipper self when he first woke up most days. 

The driver side door opened and he stepped inside. “Yep, good to go.” 

“Hiya Raf!” 

He nearly lept out of his skin, accidently hitting Bee’s horn. “Miko?” 

“Heh, morning?” Jack scratched the back of his neck. Both of them were behind Bee’s front seats, huddled on the floor board. 

“What are you two doing here?” Raf asked. 

“Did you think we’d just let you go to superhero school by yourself?” Miko asked, arms crossed. “Clearly you don’t know us very well.” She said, mock hurt painting her voice. 

“How’d you get past Bulkhead and Arcee? How’d they talk you into this Bee?” They all tried to answer at once. Voices overlapped each other in a confusing conchphony. “Wait, wait one at a time!” 

Shocked at his rare outburst, they all paused for a moment. To no one's surprise it was Miko to break the silence first. “Bulkhead is a deep sleeper. It takes  _ a lot  _ to get him up in the morning, so I had it easy. Jack on the other hand.” She elbowed him for emphasis. 

“Hey!” He rubbed his ribs. “Yeah I barely made it past Arcee, but...I’m with Miko on this one. We don’t know these people this well and...yeah I want to go with you.” 

“ _ They made some pretty good points. Though I could’ve done without Miko slamming my door on the way in here. _ ” Bee said. “ _ Besides, I’ll feel better knowing you have someone with you, just for the first day. _ ”

Raf smiled. Part of him wanted to be upset and offended. It wouldn’t be hard for this to seem like they thought he needed a babysitter, or that he couldn’t handle himself. He knew that wasn’t it though. They cared about him, and in Miko’s case they cared about seeing some super powered beings, but they cared. They just wanted to make sure he’d be safe, that he’d be in good hands. “Alright, but I’m not helping you explain this to Arcee or Bulkhead afterwards.” 

“Woo!” Miko whooped. Jack just laughed awkwardly. He had the harder job ahead by far. 

Bumblebee started his engines, and they made their way to base. Jack and Miko moved to be properly seated and buckled in in the backseats at Bee’s request. Somehow, despite Miko’s excited exclamations and “what ifs” Raf took the shortcut to base by passing out. 

Bee didn’t bother waking him until they were heading down the tunnel into the silo. Raf woke up, glad to have gotten some sleep at least. 

“Good your here Raf.” Ratchet was at the ground bridge controls, ready to send him on his way. “I have the coordinates ready to send you on your way- why are you two here?” 

Bee had transformed after letting Jack and Miko out, and now stood back awkwardly. 

“We’re going with Raf for his first day of superhero school!” Miko said, as if the answer was obvious. 

“Come on Ratchet, you know even you don’t trust these guys yet. We just want to go for the first day and make sure there's nothing immediately suspicious.” Jack reasoned. 

“And if there  _ is _ anything suspicious?” Ratchet crossed his arms. “What will you do then?”

“Call in for backup, duh.” Miko chimed in. Raf thought that if these X-men wanted to do anything bad they could manage it before any of them could call the bots. Seeing as none of them had seen the Professor control Vince and his goons’ minds, he decided not to bring it up. Even if it was a bit selfish, he’d appreciate Miko and Jack being with him. 

“Arrg,” Ratchet shook his helm, “Fine, but don’t expect me to defend either of you from Arcee or Bulkhead for just running off.”

“Yeah we’ve gotten that.” Jack looked increasingly nervous every time that was brought up. 

“We’ll be okay.” Raf said, looking up at the medic, “Besides Ratchet, at least you’ll have Miko out of your hair for a while.” 

“Hey!”

“Ha!” Ratchet barked, “Maybe they’ll find she has this ‘x-gene’ and its responsible for her ability to always be in my way.” Ratchet smiled, his teasing clear. 

“Don’t worry doc bot, it's just for today.” Raf could see the schemes cooking in her eyes. 

Perhaps realizing his mistake Ratchet opened the ground bridge. “Alright, get going then. I’ll bridge you back in a few hours.”

“Alright! Tell Bulk I said hi, okay Bumblebee?” Miko whooped and grabbed Jack’s arms to run through the portal. 

“I’ll see you in a bit, Bee.” Raf waved bye to his friend. 

“ _ See you then Raf! Go learn to be a BadAft! _ ” Bee waved back as he stepped through. 

On the other side of the green vortex was what Raf could only assume was the Professor’s office. It was a very clean office, with a single desk in the center. Several awards lined the walls along with college degrees. “Ah Raf, I see you brought a couple guests.” The Professor wheeled forward. “These are your friends from before, correct?” He smiled warmly at them all. 

“Yeah, I uh, I hope that's okay.” Raf was so focused on the fact they wanted to come he didn’t think about how this would look to the professor. 

“Perfectly fine. We often encourage new students to bring their loved ones along the first day they are here, to help foster trust.” The Professor winked at them. “It was Jack and Miko, wasn’t it?” He asked. When they nodded in confirmation, he continued. “I must tell you though, I haven’t informed the rest of my students about your  _ other _ friends. For now, I’d like to keep that to myself, let them meet you first. Eventually, I would hope they could meet one of them in person.” 

“Wait, why not tell them now?” Raf asked. The prospect of even more secrets didn’t sit well with him. 

The Professor sighed, “Most of them just arrived here themselves. They’ve had to adjust to many changes in their lives very quickly. I’d prefer to ease them into the reality that there is alien life. That would only further shatter their world view.” He folded his hands, “I hope you understand.”

“Ah man, more secrets.” Miko pouted. 

Jack quickly covered for her, “We understand.” 

Raf nodded. He wasn’t happy about the last minute arrangement, but he understood it. 

“Excellent. I’ll give you all the grand tour.” 

“Superhero school!” Miko squealed, bouncing on her toes. Raf caught Jack smile and shake his head at her enthusiasm. They followed the Professor out into a Hallway, Raf taking the second position, then Jack, and Miko bringing up the rear. 

“I inherited this house from my parents after they passed. As it was far too much for just myself, I figured it was the perfect place to start my school. However, with trained mutant savvy teachers in short supply, most of my students attend the local high school for their regular curriculum.” The Professor explained as he showed them around the property. It was the largest single building Raf had ever seen in person, short of the Autobot base. After seeing the outside of the property and the interior facilities, Raf thought there was something missing, though he couldn’t put his finger on it. 

Miko however, knew exactly what it was. “So like, where’s the super power training stuff?” 

“Miko.” Jack chastised her. 

“What? Don’t you find it weird too?” 

“She’s kinda got a point.” Raf said. 

Professor Xavier nodded, “We’ll get to that in a moment. For now, I think introductions are in order.” He put a finger to his temple. “No need to install an intercom system in this school.” He said, chuckling a little to himself. 

“Coooool.” Miko squealed.

Raf felt a shiver go down his spine. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to the idea of someone just  _ being _ in his head. 

Students started pouring into the common room. Along with them were three adults. Raf recognized Ororo and Logan, but the large, blue, and hairy man in a suit was new. 

“Rafael, you already met Ororo and Logan.” The Professor said, “and this is Dr. Hank McCoy.”

He held out his hand and Raf shook it. It was firm, but more gentle then he expected. “Good to meet you, son.” 

“He is in charge of our scientific endeavors, as well as being well versed in emergency medicine.” The Professor explained. 

“It’s nice to meet you.” Raf smiled at the large man. Despite his unusual appearance, he gave off a warmth he appreciated in the strange environment. 

“You’re wicked looking! Almost like an animal, like a gorilla!” Miko chirped up.

“ _ Miko! _ ” Raf and Jack both scolded her. They were well aware of her lack of filter, but it was impossible to predict what exactly she would say and when. To their relief Hank and The Professor both just chuckled. 

“That’s why I’m also known as Beast.” He shook Miko and Jack’s hands as well. Miko was practically vibrating with excitement at this point. 

Another teenager came down the stairs. He was a younger boy with blue-black hair. “We’re skipping the holowatch part? Sweet!” He pressed a button on his watch before disappearing in a puff of smoke. He reappeared near the others, however now his skin was the same shade of blue as his hair. MIko was literally jumping up and down now in excitement. 

“And these are my students,” The professor said, now that everyone was accounted for. “Scott and Jean are my oldest students,” He gestured to a redhead girl and a guy with sunglasses, both of which seemed about Jack’s age maybe slightly older. “Kurt, Kitty, Spyke, and Rouge are all somewhat newer here.” Kurt was the blue teleporter. Kitty looked like Miko’s polar opposite with her trendy outfit and perky demeanor. Spyke smiled and nodded at him when his name was mentioned. Raf decided he was the friendliest so far. Rouge on the other hand had her arms crossed and looked like she’d rather be anywhere else. She reminded Raf of Arcee. “X-men, this is Rafael Esquiviel, and his friends Miko and Jack. He is your newest classmate, if on a part time basis.” 

“Um, hi.” Raf said shyly.

“I will give you all a moment to get acquainted. There is one more person I’m waiting on. Then we will finish the tour, alright?” The professor asked. 

Raf nodded and he wheeled out of the room. Miko immediately ran up to Kurt. Raf was going to try to stop her but Jean came up to him first. “It's good to meet you, Rafael.” She extended a hand and he shook it. 

“Oh you can call me Raf.” Everyone here was so much older than him. At Jasper High he was used to it, but being in another foreign environment, it stood out. 

“Ooohhh, just like velvet!” Miko exclaimed across the room. She was rubbing Kurt’s arm. He wore a smug smile and the other girl, Kitty, just rolled her eyes. 

“Sorry about Miko.” Raf said, feeling blood rush to his face. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Scott walked up to join the conversation. “It’s nice seeing someone excited.” 

Raf only blushed harder. He was excited to be here, but going up and eagerly interacting with people just wasn’t something he knew how to do. 

“The Professor said your name was Scott, right?” Perhaps sensing his discomfort, Jack piped up, inserting himself into the conversation. “I’m Jack, Jack Darby.” He and Scott shook hands. Through his dark sunglasses, Raf couldn’t be sure, but if Scott was anything like Jack they were both sizing each other up. 

“So, um what can you do?” Raf asked and immediately winced.  _ Was that weird to ask _ ? 

To his relief Jean smiled. “I have telekinesis and some minor telepathic ability. Scott here-”

“I have a laser beam behind my eyes.” He said, interrupting her. “That's why I have the sunglasses indoors.” 

They went on for a while more. They asked what he could do and he briefly explained. Others would come and introduce themselves and leave and Miko would bounce around the room asking everyone about what they could do. This turned sour when she asked the goth girl, Rouge, and got turned down. Raf wasn’t about to ask anyone else what her mutation was, but he had a feeling it wasn’t good. 

Eventually, the Professor came back in, this time with a teenager next to him. They approached Raf, the Professor making one, final, introduction. “Raf, this is Forge. He is a technopath like yourself.” 

“Nice to meet you.” Raf initiated the handshake this time. 

“Likewise, dude.” Forge extended a metal arm. Raf’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “Like it? I designed it myself.” 

“It's amazing.” This was cutting edge tech. Any prosthetics Raf had seen before were nowhere near as dexterous as this. It reminded him of the Autobots. 

“While your mutations don’t act in quite the same manner, it is unique to find two of the same mutation type so similar. That’s why I’ll be having you two work together, as well as you have one on one sessions with me, Raf” 

“Is Forge not a student here?” Raf tilted his head slightly. 

“Naw man, I’ve had some quality time with my mutation. I don’t believe in mastery, but I think I’ve found the extent of what I can do.” Forge said. 

“Is that a metal arm?” Miko came sprinting over. “Cool! Just like Bu-” Raf’s eyes went wide and Jack cut her off with a glare, “B-Bucky! My uncle Bucky! He has a prosthetic arm.” 

Raf breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t the cleanest save, but it would work.

“We should continue on with the tour. Just one place left for you two see.” The Professor said. “Follow me.” 

“The rest of you suit up, meet me in the danger room in five minutes.” Logan said to the rest of the students. There were a chorus of groans from several of them. 

“Danger room?” Jack questioned. 

“You’ll see shortly.” The professor answered. 

The three of them followed the professor into an elevator. He pressed a button Raf hadn’t even noticed before that indicated a floor below them. The descent took several minutes. Raf couldn’t help but wonder how far underground they were. Eventually they came to a stop. 

This floor was entirely metal. The hallway had several doors, all of which slid open on proximity sensors. “This way.” The Professor lead them to a door with another elevator. This one went up, but only for a short moment. From there was an observation deck out into a half spherical room. “This is the Danger Room.” 

Just as he said it Logan led a group of the x-men into the room. All of them were in tight and colorful spandex suits. He appeared to be giving them instructions. “This is where mutants with more physical abilities can train with their powers.” 

Logan left the Danger Room, and the kids still in there began stretching. After a couple moments Logan came up through the same elevator they had. The gruff man didn’t acknowledge Raf, instead going straight for a microphone. “Ready...set...go!” They started off on the course and immediately it came to life. Laser, trip wires, everything. 

“Woah!” Miko watched, wide eyed. 

“Um, is that standard?” Jack asked, eyeing Raf. 

“This is mostly for more physical mutations. Raf won’t have to train in here unless he wants to. I’m much more interested in developing the mental part of his mutation. Raf breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought it would be prudent to show you everything though.” 

“Come on, Raf. You’ll have to try this at least once! The way you blew up the computers and the game console you’d kill it here!” Miko said. 

“Yeah, I don’t know Miko. I’m not really a fighter.” Raf rubbed the back of his neck. He saw where this would be useful but, the idea of being in the middle of that chaos wasn’t something he looked forward to. Miko just huffed and crossed her arms.

“After this group finishes, we’ll finish up here and send you home.” The Professor said, smiling at him. “We’ll begin your training tomorrow, same time, in my office.” 

“Right.” Raf gave him a small smile. Despite everything, he found himself looking forward to coming back. Aside from Logan, everyone had been really nice, and not as intimidating as he thought. 

The idea of maybe being useful to the Autobots didn’t hurt. 

  
  
  


Mystique POV

_ Bayville, New York _

_ Saturday, 9:00pm _

Administration work was always behind. If her cover wasn’t so vital she would never care about plans for the next dance or who was getting suspended or new dress code suggestions from overly concerned parents. The drivel was awful and kept her away from her flock of wayward boys. Tonight would be a particularly late night and there would be no telling what kinds of trouble they’d get into by the time she got home. 

“Mystique.” His ominous voice echoed behind her. 

She whipped around from her desk, “Ah, sir.”

“A new mutant has been detected, a technopath.” he said, floating outside her window as usual, “Charles has already visited him, but he remains in his own location. I want you to retrieve him for me. Take the brotherhood if you must. He is a very powerful mutant, Mystique. Do not let him slip through your fingers.”

A devilish grin split her face. Finally, some  _ real _ work. “Of course, sir.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As far as how this will be updated it will probably be in bursts. So like, I have up through chapter 10 outlined, I just need to write it. So then I'll write those chapter and outline the next 5 chapters. So on, so forth. Cool? Cool. 
> 
> Thanks for reading this far! I hope this was worth the wait at least!

**Author's Note:**

> I know I said this is a personal project, but thank you for reading. Any Kudos or comments left mean the world to me. I love hearing yalls thoughts and advice. Thank you.
> 
> Edit: Wow! I didn't expect near this response! I just wanted to let yall know that I am outlining the next few chapters now and hope to have them written soon. Thank you all for the support! Its been a huge emotional boost! :)


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